Biking the Suburbs

Bicycling in suburban communities and rural areas is one of the great joys of living in communities with lower density. These areas also bring unique challenges and opportunities. We work to improve bicycling in the eight PA and NJ counties surrounding Philadelphia county by organizing local communities of bicyclists, collaborating with bicycle clubs, building trails, and advocating for pro-bicycle legislation.

The Work We Do

Trails. Some of our region’s best trails, and some of our region’s most beautiful and valuable planned trails, wind through the counties surrounding Philadelphia county. These trails are essential parts of the Circuit, which is our priority trail building program. Visit the official website of trails in our region, www.connectthecircuit.org, to see a map of trails in your region and how you can help get a trail built near you.

Complete Streets policies. We work to convince local municipalities to adopt these policies, which ensure that new roads will be built with everybody in mind. That means abandoning the cars-first development patters which have created dangerous intersections and neighborhoods where we must drive to go anywhere. New Jersey is leading the way in adopting these policies. Learn more about Complete Streets at the movement’s official website.

Bike Lanes on PennDOT roads. We are working with PennDOT and County Planning Departments to develop a process to prioritize state roads that are suitable for bicycle facilities. Currently the working group has identified one or two corridors in each of the suburban counties. The goal is to facilitate PennDOT’s collaboration with each county to prepare striping, signal, and spot widening plans to improve the bikeability of these roads. Implementation will depend on the availability of funding and the approval of the affected municipalities.

Biking the Suburbs Facebook group. This is an active Facebook group of bicyclists in our region. Join the group to meet other like-minded bicyclists, learn about rides and meetups, and hear about important news that impacts your ride or your community.

Sign the Circuit Petition. This petition is our collection of residents and taxpayers in our region who believe that trails are worth funding. We use this petition, which more than 1,500 people have already signed, to show elected officials and funding sources that there exists popular public support for new biking and walking trails.